Treatments of the reception of Darwinism have focused on Western Europe and North America. iDarwinistas! turns to Argentina in the second half of the nineteenth century. Having hosted Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle, Argentina had a claim to being the cradle of Darwinism. Such claims, together with other cultural currents placed the appropriation or rejection of Darwinism at the center of the struggle to articulate the national identity of the emerging Argentine Republic. Two chapters of original historiography are followed by eight chapters of new English translations of primary sources from the Argentine reception of Darwinism, including texts (by Domingo Sarmiento, Eduardo Holmberg, and others) well known to students of Latin American letters, but never before published in English.
Alex Levine, Ph.D. (1994) in Philosophy, University of California, San Diego, is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida. He has published in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of science, co-authoring From Man to Ape (Chicago, 2010) with Adriana Novoa.
Adriana Novoa, Ph.D. (1998) in History, University of California, San Diego, is an Associate Professor of History at the University of South Florida. She has published numerous articles on race, gender, evolution, and national identity in nineteenth century Argentina, and co-authored From Man to Ape (Chicago, 2010) with Alex Levine.